Temperature Sensing Unit for AI Laptop

The present disclosure relates to a temperature sensor, particularly relates to a temperature sensing unit for an artificial intelligence (AI) laptop.

Apart from the central processing unit (CPU) and the graphics processing unit (GPU), AI laptop further has a neural processing unit (NPU). The overall computing capability needs to be at least 45 TOPS (tera operations per second) or higher to process real-time voice and video signal. With the rapid increased larger inference model during AI training, the need of computing power is greatly increased, and the power consumption is relatively increased by 2-3 times as well, for example, 80-300 Watt for AI laptop. Therefore, the heat management for laptop is becoming important to prevent the processor chips from overheating and downclocking, which may significantly downgrade the computing power and may impact user experience.

The implementation of heat management for laptop is different from that of desktop computer or AI server. Conventional heat management for desktop computer and AI server are water-cooling manner or the mixed manner of water cooling and air cooling. AI lap top can only use fan cooling for heat management due to the height and weight constraints of AI laptop. Traditional gaming laptop adopted the manners of increasing the volume of metal casing and/or continually activating the fan has problem of fan noise which greatly impacts the user experience.

Alternative approach is using the build-in temperature sensor of CPU chip or a thermistor attached to the casing to control the activation and/or speed of the fan. However, those may be close to the heat source, and the severe temperature change may generate annoying fan switching noise. More importantly, AI generation output might have severe delay due to computing power is affected by the over-heated chip. Therefore, a complete solution is needed for applying to AI laptop to provide optimized sustained computing power and to decrease fan noise.

Due to the heat generated from the processor (CPU/GPU/NPU) of laptop may only be dissipated to ambient air by fan or blower, the heat dissipation capability in the AI laptop is proportional to the fan speed and inflow air temperature. However, operating the fan at maximum speed may consume higher power and create larger fan noise, which impact user experience. The optimal solutions are, for example, to offer sustained computing power based on external ambient temperature, to adjust fan speed for sufficient task computation requirement without lagging user experience, and to reduce the fan noise generated from frequently switching ON/OFF.

Since the heat generated from laptop varies frequently and the outside air flow might also impact the estimation of air temperature apart from calibration point, therefore a new dynamic algorithm for more accurately estimating the external air temperature is highly expected in the computing power optimization for AI laptop.

The disclosure adopts non-contact temperature sensor incorporated with calibration and algorithm to provide completely integrated AI laptop heat management to output optimized sustained computing power and decrease fan noise. Furthermore, the disclosure may effectively adjust the apparent temperature at keyboard for better user experience, which is integrated into the heat management system of AI laptop.

In the real operation of AI laptop, the in-machine temperature varies from time to time and is dependent on computing power change, and the outside air speed may change as well, which may greatly impact the accuracy of outside air temperature estimation. The disclosure proposes an online (real-time) parameter adjustment method that may provide more accurate estimation of outside air temperature for computing power optimization of AI laptop.

One embodiment of the disclosure provides a temperature sensing unit used for an AI laptop, the temperature sensing unit including: a non-contact temperature sensor, sensing an in-machine temperature (Ta) and a target area temperature (Tb); and a processing element, obtaining a ratio of a first thermal resistance (Rac), which is between the target area temperature and an external ambient temperature, and a second thermal resistance (Ri), which is between the in-machine temperature and the target area temperature, through a calibration procedure, calculating a predicting external ambient temperature (Tamb) according to

and controlling the activation and speed of a fan according to the predicting external ambient temperature, and/or to optimize sustained computing power for AI laptop

in a steady-state,

in the steady-state,

is the in-machine temperature obtained during the calibration procedure,

is the target area temperature obtained during the calibration procedure, and

is an external ambient temperature obtained during the calibration procedure.

amb b a b One embodiment of the disclosure provides a temperature sensing unit used for an AI laptop, the temperature sensing unit including: a non-contact temperature sensor, sensing an in-machine temperature (Ta) and a target area temperature (Tb); and a processing element, obtaining a ratio of a first thermal resistance (Rac), which is between the target area temperature and an external ambient temperature, and a second thermal resistance (Ri), which is between the in-machine temperature and the target area temperature, through a calibration procedure, calculating a predicting external ambient temperature (Tamb) according to T=T−α(T−T), and controlling the activation and speed of a fan according to the predicting external ambient temperature, and/or to optimize sustained computing power for AI laptop.

in a steady-state.

The other embodiment of the present disclosure may adjust α or β according to a preset change threshold of the in-machine temperature (Ta) or the target area temperature (Tb), e.g., the preset change threshold is greater than or equal to 0.5° C. and less than or equal to 2° C., preferably, equal to 1° C.

The β is adjusted by minimizing

amb_i b_i a_i b_i and the α is adjusted by minimizing T=T−α(T−T). i is a number of a plurality of samples during the re-adjustment procedure. The samples are sampled at a preset interval or at a varied interval, and the number of the samples is greater than or equal to 16 and less than or equal to 128, preferably equal to 32.

One embodiment of the disclosure, the non-contact temperature sensor includes two thermopile sensing elements, one of the thermopile sensing elements is configured to sense the target area temperature, another one of the thermopile sensing elements is a dummy unit and configured to generate a compensation temperature signal.

One embodiment of the disclosure, the in-machine temperature is sensed by a build-in thermistor of the one of the thermopile sensing elements or a build-in temperature sensor of the processing unit.

Another embodiment of the disclosure, the non-contact temperature sensor includes a single thermopile sensing element, the single thermopile sensing element includes a build-in thermistor configured to sense the in-machine temperature.

Another embodiment of the disclosure, the non-contact temperature sensor includes a non-volatile memory configured to store the ratio of the first thermal resistance and the second thermal resistance.

In summary, the temperature sensing unit used for the AI laptop of the disclosure is using the non-contact temperature sensor to simultaneously obtain three types of temperature characteristics, which are the laptop's internal temperature (in-machine temperature (Ta)), the target area temperature Tb (such as the keyboard temperature), and the ambient temperature (predicting external ambient temperature Tamb), to optimize the computing power and reduce fan noise. Specifically, the temperature sensing unit used for the AI laptop of the disclosure may not only measure the surface temperature of the target area, but also estimate the external surface temperature and the ambient temperature of the target area for heat management of the laptop to provide optimized sustained computing power.

As used in the present disclosure, terms such as “first”, “second” are employed to describe various elements, components, regions, layers, and/or parts. These terms should not be construed as limitations on the mentioned elements, components, regions, layers, and/or parts. Instead, they are used merely for distinguishing one element, component, region, layer, or part from another. Unless explicitly indicated in the context, the usage of terms such as “first”, “second” does not imply any specific sequence or order.

1 FIG. is time sequence of the traditional method of controlling air volume and heat dissipation using a temperature sensor built into the chip. The upper curve is the target area temperature (CPU temperature) and the lower curve is variation of the fan speed. The rotational speed of the fan is increasing following increasing of the CPU's temperature, and is decreasing following decreasing of the CPU's temperature with some time delay. Thus, the variation frequency of the rotational speed is frequently changed with respect to the CPU's temperature variation. The fan noise in this manner is the most annoying one that has worst user experience.

2 FIG. is time sequence of the traditional method of controlling air volume and heat dissipation using a thermistor. The thermistor is generally disposed on the main board. The upper curve is the target area temperature (main board temperature) and the lower curve is variation of the fan's air volume. The rotational speed of the fan is increasing following increasing of the temperature sensed by the thermistor, and is decreasing following decreasing of the temperature sensed by the thermistor. Thus, the variation frequency of the rotational speed is frequently changed with respect to the main board's temperature variation. The thermistor is a contact type temperature sensor. Although the variation range of the temperature information from the thermistor is smaller than that of the temperature sensor in the CPU, but the fundamental problem is not solved. Thus, the fan noise in this manner is slightly improved, but the user experience is still not good enough.

3 FIG. is time sequence of proposed method of controlling air volume and heat dissipation using a non-contact temperature sensor. The target temperature measured by the infrared temperature sensor is the element casing temperature of the laptop, that is far from the heat source, and the influence of thermal shock from the CPU may be omitted. The temperature being measured is equivalent to the average temperature of the dramatically changed CPU temperature passing through the low pass filter. Thus, the temperature is more stable to be an ideal temperature for feedback temperature control. The fan noise in this manner is the lowest, and the user experience is the best.

In the usage of AI laptop, the key concern is to provide sustained computing power. Therefore, the signals such as the target area temperature, the in-machine temperature, and the ambient temperature (external ambient temperature) may be used for temperature controlling to obtain optimized computing power for AI laptop. Particularly, the ambient temperature may influence the sustained computing power to be provided.

The objectives of the disclosure are to provide the dynamic models for the estimation of external ambient temperature, which is important with in-machine temperature, target area temperature and/or processor temperature to optimize sustained computing power for AI laptop. The proposed dynamic model may overcome the problem of varied air speed in the ambient environment, such that the dynamic model may provide more accurate estimation of external ambient temperature than that of the steady state model.

The temperature sensing unit of the disclosure includes the non-contact temperature sensor and the processing element. The non-contact temperature sensor is used to measure the target area temperature (Tb) (such as the temperature of the casing or the monitoring point), and the build-in thermistor of the thermopile sensor or the build-in temperature sensor of the processing element may provide the in-machine temperature signal (Ta). The predicting external ambient temperature (Tamb) may be calculated through the calibrated computing parameter and the measured temperature signals (Ta, Tb).

Examples of non-contact temperature sensor include thermopile sensor, thermal-diode sensor or thermistor sensor sitting on membrane with cavity that can detect infrared thermal radiation of external objects.

4 a FIG.() 4 b FIG.() 4 c FIG.() 4 c FIG.() 102 101 102 104 103 102 105 104 102 105 is the schematic diagram of the application of the disclosure. The non-contact temperature sensoris disposed adjacent to the laptop CPU chip. The non-contact temperature sensoris used for monitoring the target area temperature Tb. In the embodiment, the target area temperature Tb is the temperature of the laptop keyboard. The laptop substrateis used for carrying the electronic components. The build-in thermistor of the non-contact temperature sensoror the build-in temperature sensor of the processing elementmay measure the in-machine temperature Ta. The external casing temperature of the laptop keyboardat the target area is Tskin, and the external ambient temperature is Tamb.andshows the steady state model of the temperature at each point and the thermal resistance under the heat flow H. The thermal resistance Ra is between the external casing temperature Tskin of the target area and the ambient temperature Tamb. The thermal resistance (second thermal resistance) Ri is between the in-machine temperature Ta, which is sensed by the non-contact temperature sensoror processing element, and the target area temperature Tb. Similarly, the thermal resistance Rc is between the target area temperature Tb and the surface temperature Tskin at the target area. For facilitating analyzing, Ra and Rc may be simplified as the thermal resistance (first thermal resistance) Rac as shown into acquire the predicting external ambient temperature Tamb based on the target area temperature Tb in the steady state.

Under thermal equilibrium, the predicting external ambient temperature Tamb may be obtained by the in-machine temperature Ta, the target area temperature Tb, and the thermal resistance ratio Rac/Ri as shown in equation (1).

The thermal resistance ratio Rac/Ri may be obtained through the calibration procedure. When in use, the predicting ambient temperature (predicting external ambient temperature) Tamb may be obtained according to equation (1) by the measured in-machine temperature Ta and the measured target area temperature Tb under the steady state. The predicting ambient temperature Tamb and the target area temperature Tb are used to control the activation of the fan and appropriately adjust the air volume to make the laptop chip work under thermal safe zone to provide optimized sustained computing power.

The laptop's computing power is related to the fan's heat dissipation capability as shown below;

The equation of the fan's heat dissipation amount is, Q=0.05P/ΔTc.

Q is the air volume needed for cooling (unit: Cubic Meter per Minute, CMM). P is the thermal design power (unit: Watts, W). ΔTc is the temperature difference between the chip's working temperature and the external ambient temperature (unit: ° C.).

Presumably, the highest temperature in summer is 35° C. (designed temperature), CPU's allowable case working temperature is 80° C., and the fan's designed air volume is 0.1667CMM.

1. The conservative designed value of the thermal design power P=0.1667/0.05*(80−35)=150 W.

2. If the realistic external ambient temperature is measured to be 25° C., the realistic thermal design power P=0.1667/0.05*(80−25)=183 W. Therefore, the sustained computing power is increased by 22%.

3. If the ambient temperature in winter is measured to be 18° C., the realistic thermal design power P=0.1667/0.05*(80−18)=207 W. Therefore, the sustained computing power is increased by 38%.

4. If the realistic ambient temperature is measured to be 45° C., the realistic thermal design power P=0.1667/0.05*(80−45)=117 W. Hence, the sustained computing power needs to be restricted for safety operation.

The embodiment describes the influence from the external ambient temperature to the sustained computing power provided by the laptop in the application of the AI laptop. Therefore, the fan control is related to the chip's optimized computing power, the in-machine temperature Ta, the target area temperature Tb, and the ambient temperature Tamb. The disclosure provides a solution for continuously optimizing the computing power. The disclosure is also used for more precisely predicting the surface temperature of specific area.

4 a FIG.() Step 1. Heating the circuit board to a specific temperature; Step 2. Waiting the system to enter a thermal stable state; Step 3. Measuring the ambient temperature Referring to, the embodiment uses the in-machine temperature Ta and the target area temperature Tb to calculate the predicting external ambient temperature Tamb based on the equation (1). The thermal resistance ratio Rac/Ri is used, and that may be obtained through the calibration procedure as described below.

Step 4. Reading out the values of (it may be obtained by measuring outside air of the laptop though the other temperature sensor);

Step 5. Calculating from the thermopile sensors installed inside;

Step 6. Repeating the steps 1-5 multiple times (the temperature of the circuit board may be different) to average the reasonable thermal resistance ratio Rac/Ri for multiple temperature measurement as a fixed parameter.

It should be noted that the star (*) sign in variables indicates the measured value during calibration procedure. The thermal resistance ratio Rac/Ri may be stored in the non-volatile memory of the non-contact temperature sensor. In the practical application under the steady state, the predicting external ambient temperature Tamb is obtained by equation (2a) based on the measured in-machine temperature Ta, the measured target area temperature Tb, and the thermal resistance ratio Rac/Ri from the calibration procedure. Then the predicting external ambient temperature Tamb, the target area temperature Tb, and the in-machine temperature Ta may be used for controlling the fan speed to optimize sustained computing power.

However, other than the steady state, the outside air speed may influence the predicting external ambient temperature Tamb under the dynamic model. Here, we define α and β as,

Parameter α or β is obtained during calibration process. In the following example, β is used as an example for explanation. β is limited between 0 and 1.

The estimation of the predicting external ambient temperature Tamb is re-written as equation (2d) below;

On the other hand, if & is used for calibration, the estimation of the predicting external ambient temperature Tamb is re-written as equation (2e) below;

may be determined in the steady state.

5 a FIG.() 5 b FIG.() shows the case of ambient temperature with varied thermal resistance Ra due to outside air speed, andshows the thermal flow model with heat capacity in each interface layer.

5 a FIG.() 6 FIG. 6 FIG. In the practical operation of AI laptop, the in-machine temperature may be varied from time to time, and the thermal resistance of laptop skin to external air may also be varied due to external air speed changing as shown in. For the dynamic model adjustment, the external fan may be used in simulation procedure for simulating air speed change, and the simulation also includes different computing power change with ambient temperature change.shows the estimation results of ambient temperature during air speed and ambient temperature changes for β=0.41. As shown in, when β=0.41, the predicting external ambient temperature Tamb is close to the real external ambient temperature Tamb if the fan is off or the steady state.

7 FIG. 7 FIG. shows the estimation results of ambient temperature during air speed and ambient temperature changes for β=0.31. As shown in, when β=0.31, the predicting external ambient temperature Tamb is close to the real external ambient temperature Tamb if the fan is ON (larger air turbulence). On the other hand, the estimation is worse when external air speed is zero (fan is off). Therefore, it is difficult to use single parameter to fit well for both cases of the external air speed being zero or being with high turbulence.

For normal operation of AI laptop with in-machine temperature varied and external air turbulence, the online (real-time) dynamic model may be used to reduce the estimation error of external air temperature.

8 FIG. shows the model of real-time dynamic adjustment of parameters α or β value for the estimation of ambient temperature. The initial value of α or β is calculated by equation (2b) or (2c) during calibration process. In the real-time operation, the parameter α or β is dynamically adjusted based on a trigger signal and online (real-time) re-adjustment procedure of new parameters. Either α or β may be used in the feedback model. The adjustment of α or β is triggered by one preset change threshold, such as Ta or Tb being greater than or equal to 0.5° C. and less than or equal to 2° C. For example, the preset change threshold is preferably 1° C. Then, a set of online samples of Ta and Tb is used to optimize as equation (3a) below;

amb_i α is selected by minimizing Tvalue. It should be noted that “i” is the number of samples after the re-adjusting parameter process is triggered. The number of i may be greater than or equal to 16 and less than or equal to 128. In some other embodiments, the number of the samples is preferably equal to 32. The samples may be sampled at a preset interval or at a varied interval. In other words, for example, 16 samples may be sampled at 1 minute (preset interval), here is not intended to be limiting.

Similarly, if parameter β is selected, the online re-adjustment of β parameter may be obtained by minimizing the value of Tamb ¿ for i samples as shown in equation (3b).

9 FIG. 9 FIG. shows the estimation results of the predicting external ambient temperature during air speed and ambient temperature changes based on online (real-time) dynamic adjustment method. In the lower part of, it shows that the value of β changes according to external air speed change, which offers desirable estimation of the predicting external ambient temperature Tamb. A small spike occurs at the beginning of the online readjustment process. After that, the online dynamic estimation model works well for varied air speed.

In some embodiments, the non-contact temperature sensor may use a single thermopile sensing element. The single thermopile sensing element may sense the target area temperature Tb, and the build-in thermistor of the single thermopile sensing element may provide the in-machine temperature Ta.

In some other embodiments, the non-contact temperature sensor may use a dual thermopile sensing element (two thermopile sensing elements) for compensating package casing effect and for providing anti thermal shock capability. That is because the internal temperature of the laptop may change abruptly and the normal single thermopile sensor may not be able to provide accurate temperature measurement under the severe heat change condition. One of the dual thermopile sensing elements is used as an active unit for measuring the temperature of the target object, and the other one of the dual thermopile sensing elements is used as a compensation unit (dummy unit) for compensating the influence from the package structure. As a result, the disclosure may precisely measure the temperature under the ambient temperature in severely changing situation. In this condition, the in-machine temperature Ta signal may be obtained by the build-in thermistor of the dual thermopile sensing element or the build-in temperature sensor of the processing element.

10 FIG. 11 FIG. 200 300 400 500 600 700 Referring toand, in some embodiments, the dual thermopile sensing elementmay, for example, include an infrared sensing chip, a silicon cover, a microcontroller chip, a package substrate, and a sealing encapsulation.

300 310 320 330 340 310 311 312 313 311 312 313 311 310 500 312 313 311 400 The infrared sensing chipincludes a first substrate, a first thermopile sensing element, a second thermopile sensing element, and a front-end signal processing unit. In some embodiments, the first substratehas a wire-bonding padand two membrane structures (or floating plate structures),formed by a front-side wet etching. The wire-bonding padand the membrane structures,are disposed correspondingly. In some embodiments, the wire-bonding padis disposed on the edge of the first substratefor wire bonding to the microcontroller chip, and the membrane structures,are disposed away from the wire-bonding padand disposed corresponding to the silicon cover.

310 314 315 312 313 312 314 313 315 In some embodiments, the first substratefurther includes two concave portions,corresponding to the membrane structures,respectively. In other words, the membrane structureis located above the concave portion, and the membrane structureis located above the concave portion.

320 312 314 320 312 320 314 320 The first thermopile sensing elementis disposed on the membrane structurecorresponding to the concave portion. A hot junction of the first thermopile sensing elementis located on the membrane structure, and a cold junction of the first thermopile sensing elementis located on the periphery of the concave portion. The first thermopile sensing elementmay sense a temperature of the target area to be sensed and generate the target area temperature Tb.

330 313 315 330 320 330 313 330 315 330 330 400 In some embodiments, the second thermopile sensing elementis disposed on the membrane structurecorresponding to the concave portion. The second thermopile sensing elementis disposed adjacent to the first thermopile sensing element. A hot junction of the second thermopile sensing elementis located on the membrane structure, and a cold junction of the second thermopile sensing elementis located on the periphery of the concave portion. The window portion of the second thermopile sensing elementis covered by metal, thereby the second thermopile sensing elementmay merely sense the thermal radiation of the silicon coverto generate a compensation temperature signal.

340 310 320 330 In some embodiments, the front-end signal processing unitis disposed on the first substrateand electrically connected with the first thermopile sensing elementand the second thermopile sensing element.

410 400 320 410 330 405 400 In some embodiments, the infrared Fresnel lensof the silicon covermay be manufactured by a semiconductor process. The first thermopile sensing elementis disposed corresponding to the infrared Fresnel lens, and the second thermopile sensing elementis disposed corresponding to the surfaceof the silicon cover.

It is worth mentioning that the area of the predicting external casing temperature Tskin may be any arbitrary point on the casing, and is not restricted to be right above the internal thermopile sensor for facilitating arranging the layout of the electronic components.

In summary, the temperature sensing unit of the disclosure may provide the in-machine temperature (Ta), the target area temperature (Tb), and the predicting ambient temperature (Tamb). Those temperature signals may be used to control the activation and rotational speed of the fan to decrease the noise of the fan frequently activating and adjust the apparent temperature at keyboard. The on-line estimation method can be applied to in-machine temperature varied or outside air speed varied cases and it can estimate external air temperature more accurately.

Further, the disclosure may provide the AI laptop with optimized sustained computing power, which is enhancing the overall efficiency of the laptop's heat management system. In the other embodiment, the non-contact temperature sensor may use the dual thermopile sensing element, one thermopile sensing element is used to measure the target area temperature, and the other thermopile sensing element is used to be a dummy unit for measuring the heat radiation of the cover to provide anti-thermal shock interference capability and more accurate temperature measurement.

While this disclosure has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations may be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of this disclosure set forth in the claims.